Heritage YMCA Hosts Annual Prayer Breakfast

Tickets are on sale now for the Heritage YMCA's 7th annual "YMCA-Naperville Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast."  This sell-out event will take place on Friday, December 2, 2011, 7:00am -8:30am, with a breakfast buffet beginning at 6:30am, at the , 2120 W. 95th St. in Naperville.  The program is inspirational and includes music, scripture and special guest speakers. 

At the Y, strengthening the community is our cause.  The three areas of focus are for Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility. 

"The YMCAs in Naperville have been listening and responding to community needs for 100 years now as the YMCAs in Naperville begin their next 100 years of service to the Naperville community.   Fee assistance keeps the Y available for kids and families who need it most.  We count on the generosity of our members and community to help people of all ages and walks of life to be more healthy, confident and secure.  This is achieved through our annual Campaign, a YMCA initiative, that provides resources to those in need and allows us to deliver on a promise that no one is turned away due to inability to pay.  This prayer breakfast is just one event that helps us deliver on that promise," said Judy Ellertson, Executive Director, Fry Family YMCA.

Again this year the event is sponsored by Friedrich-Jones and Overman-Jones Funeral Homes & Cremation Services.

"I have been a YMCA supporter for 30 years. Our family business was the first YBA sponsor. Ever since, we have continued to be an advocate for many of the YMCA programs benefiting the youth and elderly of our community. The YMCA is unique in that it spans the generations and caters to all family members. We're fortunate to have such a diverse organization to provide resources to our community," commented Ray Jones.

This year's guest speaker is Mr. Clark Baker, CEO and President of the YMCA of Greater Houston.  In his more than 40 plus year YMCA career he has held many positions. He is passionate about the YMCA’s work in helping to build youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.  The Y is open to all people and strives to turn no one away due to inability to pay.  Baker also believes in teaching the YMCA’s character development initiatives of caring, respect, responsibility, honesty and faith to children and adults.  Baker promises to continue to spread the mission of the YMCA.  He often says that at age 10, he joined the YMCA and just never went home! 

As part of the event, a delicious warm breakfast feast is included in the ticket price and is catered by Belgio's Catering with plenty of hot coffee to enjoy by all on a cold winter morning.  Naperville Mayor A. George Pradel will lead in the reading of the litany, the invocation will be given by Mojtaba Noursalehi, Ph.D., Irshad Islamic Learning Center, and Ray Jones of Friedrich-Jones and Overman-Jones Funeral Homes & Cremation Services will give the Benediction. 

The musical entertainment will include Joshua Maxwell Vaspassion Blue, a Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS) Senior, an accomplished pianist, trombone and bass guitar player.  His real passion in music however is singing.  Joshua has applied for a place in three music conservatories to study and hopes to double major with a Bachelor of the Arts for Classical Vocal Performance and a Foreign language.  He played Javert in the WVHS's 2010 spring production of Les Miserables.  Giving back to the community is important to Josh so he regularly volunteers his musical talents to nursing homes, church mission trips, Feed My Starving Children, KidsMatter, and has just been selected to be part of R.Ed.I (Restore, Educate, Inspire), a pop musical show that performs for high school students in IL that addresses many issues related to peer pressure.  His duet partner is Ally Gargano, a Neuqua Valley High School student. The Metea Valley String Quartet will perform as people enter the YMCA and prior to the program.

Tickets are on sale now for the Heritage YMCA's 7th annual "YMCA-Naperville Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast," and can be purchased at the Fry Family YMCA, 2120 W. 95th St. in Naperville, Kroehler Family YMCA, 34 S. Washington St. in downtown Naperville, or by calling Jane Bowers, YMCA of Metro Chicago,630.420.0960.  A table of 8 is $160.00, and one ticket is $20.00.  The community is encouraged to purchase tickets early as this event sells-out quickly.  For more information about the programs and services of the Heritage YMCA, visitwww.ymcachicago.org/fry.